Scanning improvements for saturated signals using automatic and fixed gain control methods

ABSTRACT

A method controls the exposure of an image containing a barcode for a barcode reading device. The method obtains a line of scan data from the image and identifies areas of saturation within the scan data. If there are saturated areas within the scan data, the method switches from an automatic gain control to a predetermined gain control. The method then resumes automatic gain control after a predetermined time.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Patent Application No. 62/096,910 for Scanning Improvements for Saturated Signals Using Automatic and Fixed Gain Control Methods filed Dec. 26, 2014. The foregoing patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention is generally related to barcode reading devices, and, more specifically, to barcode reading devices using automatic and fixed gain controls for saturated signals.

BACKGROUND

Decoding barcodes from an input signal which can be saturated over one area of the signal, and non-saturated over another area of the signal, poses an obstacle to accurate barcode decoding. This obstacle is particularly an issue where the non-saturated area of the signal contains the barcode. In an open system, it is difficult to ascertain or understand that the non-saturated area of the signal is the area of interest rather than the saturated area. This problem exists on both laser and imaging scanning systems. Conventional barcode reading devices often fail to adapt fast enough from the saturated area of the signal to the non-saturated area of the signal. Likewise, a barcode reading device can consider the saturated area as undesirable and reduce the gain, exposure, or illumination further weakening the true signal to be scanned. Therefore, more accurate barcode scanning can be performed if a barcode input includes both saturated and non-saturated areas.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the invention, a method of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode for a barcode reading device, comprises: obtaining a line of scan data from the image; identifying areas of saturation within the scan data; switching from an automatic gain control to a predetermined gain control if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resuming automatic gain control after a predetermined time.

In an embodiment, identifying areas of saturation comprises normalizing the line of scan data.

In an embodiment, normalizing the line of scan data comprises creating a histogram of the line of scan data.

In an embodiment, the predetermined gain control is a fixed gain setting.

In an embodiment, the predetermined gain control is a predetermined sequence of fixed gain settings.

In another aspect of the invention, a method of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode, comprises: providing a barcode reading device having a processor, memory, barcode reading firmware, and an image sensor package with an exposure control unit connected via a system bus, the exposure control unit having automatic gain control settings and fixed gain control settings; obtaining a line of scan data from the image captured by the image sensor package; identifying areas of saturation within the scan data by creating a histogram of the line of scan data; switching from an automatic gain control settings to fixed gain control settings if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resuming automatic gain control settings after a predetermined time.

In an embodiment, the fixed gain control settings is a single value.

In an embodiment, the fixed gain control settings is a predetermined sequence of values.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a barcode reading device comprises: a processor, memory, barcode reading firmware, and an image sensor package with an exposure control unit interconnected via a system bus, the exposure control unit having automatic gain control settings and fixed gain control settings; the barcode reading firmware operative to: obtain a line of scan data from the image captured by the image sensor package; identify areas of saturation within the scan data by creating a histogram of the line of scan data; switch from an automatic gain control settings to fixed gain control settings if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resume automatic gain control settings after a predetermined time.

In an embodiment, the fixed gain control settings is a single value.

In an embodiment, the fixed gain control settings is a predetermined sequence of values.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a barcode reading device; and

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a method of reading a barcode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, a method 200 of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode automatically switches between automatic and fixed gain control settings upon detection of saturated areas of a scanned image.

The method 200 first obtains a line of scan data from the image and identifies areas of saturation within the scan data. If there are saturated areas within the scan data, the method switches from an automatic gain control to a predetermined gain control to improve readability of the image. The predetermined gain control can include switching to a fixed gain setting or a predetermined sequence of fixed gain settings. The method 200 then resumes automatic gain control after a predetermined time.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a barcode reading device 100 includes an image sensor package 110 that includes an exposure control unit 120. The exposure control unit 120 includes automatic gain control settings 120 a and fixed gain control settings 120 b. The image sensor package 110 is connected to a system bus 130, which is connected to a processor 140, memory 141 a, and barcode reading firmware 150. The device 100 can also include additional flash memory 141 b for more storage. Furthermore, although the barcode reading firmware 150 is depicted as firmware 150, the barcode reading firmware 150 can alternatively be software stored in flash memory and loaded into memory.

The barcode reading firmware 150 is configured to detect that the signal can be saturated and automatically change gain control modes from using a hardware gain control circuit or software algorithm to using a short pattern of fixed gain adjustments before resuming the primary gain control method in the exposure control unit 120. The barcode reading firmware 150 provides automatic switching between the different exposure control methods to improve scanning performance in the barcode scanning device 100.

The barcode reading firmware 150 is capable of distinguishing a barcode from other packaging, even with a highly reflective area. The barcode reading firmware 150 captures a saturated image, and then adjusts the data capture of the image so that the saturated portions of the image remain saturated in the highly reflective areas, but adjusts the gain/exposure/etc. to increase the signal return on the paper area containing the barcode target, thus increasing the resolution and readability of the barcode.

In an embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the method 200 of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode collects a line of scan data from the image sensor package 110 at block 210. Examples of scan data include the amplitude of the signal data. This could apply A/D readings of the amplitude of the first derivative or pixel data in a linear or two-dimensional image sensor package 110 or other translations of signal intensity. The scan data originates from the exposure control unit 120 that evaluates an input signal of the image and adjusts exposure, gain, and/or illumination settings of the captured image.

The barcode reading firmware 150 identifies large areas of saturation within the scan data at block 220. In an embodiment, the identification includes histogramming the data and identifying data that is either saturated or near saturation. If a predefined amount of data is at, or near, saturation the barcode reading firmware 150 signals the condition to the exposure control unit 120. The exposure control unit 120 then switches from a calculated, automatic gain or exposure algorithm, to a fixed gain setting, or to a predetermined sequence of fixed gain settings for a period of time to compensate for the saturated image and thereby improve the readability of the unsaturated barcode at block 230. After the predefined period of time elapses, the exposure control unit 120 resumes applying the automatic gain control settings at block 240.

In summary, the method of controlling the exposure of a barcode image uniquely allows the barcode reading device to compensate for saturated portions of the image, thus enhancing the readability of the barcode. Areas of saturation in an image can deceive conventional automatic gain controls into overcompensating or overcorrecting the exposure of the image, thus making the barcode less readable. In one aspect of the invention, the method described herein overcomes this problem by automatically switching from an automatic gain control setting to a fixed gain control setting, or a sequence of fixed gain control settings, when areas of saturation are detected in the image.

The disclosed embodiments detect that the signal can be saturated in certain areas and automatically changing gain control modes from using a hardware gain control circuit or a software algorithm to using a short pattern of fixed gain adjustments, before resuming the primary gain control method. The disclosed embodiments provide automatic switching between different exposure control methods to improve scanning performance in an open system.

To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporates entirely by reference the following patents, patent application publications, and patent applications:

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While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the disclosure, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangements of the parts can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the underlying concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claim. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode for a barcode reading device, the method comprising: obtaining a line of scan data from the image; identifying areas of saturation within the scan data; switching from an automatic gain control to a predetermined gain control if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resuming automatic gain control after a predetermined time.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying areas of saturation comprises normalizing the line of scan data.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein normalizing the line of scan data comprises creating a histogram of the line of scan data.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined gain control is a fixed gain setting.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined gain control is a predetermined sequence of fixed gain settings.
 6. A method of controlling the exposure of an image containing a barcode, comprising: providing a barcode reading device having a processor, memory, barcode reading firmware, and an image sensor package with an exposure control unit connected via a system bus, the exposure control unit having automatic gain control settings and fixed gain control settings; obtaining a line of scan data from the image captured by the image sensor package; identifying areas of saturation within the scan data by creating a histogram of the line of scan data; switching from an automatic gain control settings to fixed gain control settings if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resuming automatic gain control settings after a predetermined time.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the fixed gain control settings is a single value.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the fixed gain control settings is a predetermined sequence of values.
 9. A barcode reading device, comprising: a processor, memory, barcode reading firmware, and an image sensor package with an exposure control unit interconnected via a system bus, the exposure control unit having automatic gain control settings and fixed gain control settings; the barcode reading firmware operative to: obtain a line of scan data from the image captured by the image sensor package; identify areas of saturation within the scan data by creating a histogram of the line of scan data; switch from an automatic gain control settings to fixed gain control settings if the identified areas of saturation within the scan data are substantially saturated; and resume automatic gain control settings after a predetermined time.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the fixed gain control settings is a single value.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the fixed gain control settings is a predetermined sequence of values. 